For the longest time, I’ve been waiting to do this article. It’s finally here!
As most of you know, Eliara is a senior at LHS, just like me, who is most widely known for her delicious cake pops, cookies, and tres leches cakes! She also does several other things, for example, Varsity Volleyball and the Student Government as Secretary. However, I’m not focusing on that within this article. What I’ve wanted to know is what really goes on when you run a student business, especially at the height of popularity that hers is. Does it take grit? Determination? When you’re at your limit, are you forced to cut corners and sell something you’re not proud of?
Let’s see what Eliara has to say. (And as always, support small and local businesses!)
My first question, right off the bat, was “How did you get started?”
“Well, it was last year, so junior year, and after volleyball season,” she started, “I needed a source of income to support my family. It was actually my boyfriend, Andrew, who pushed me to do it because I really love baking and he supported me the entire time.”
It’s a scary thing, I think, to just start something from the ground up–especially as a student in high school. Usually it comes with a lot of risks (like supply costs and time management) and there is always that dread of not knowing if it will work out or not. Deliciosas, however, was able to be quite successful, which led me to my next question.
“When did you get big? How did you feel?”
“I was actually really popular, like, off the bat.” She nodded to herself. “The cake pops were definitely a hit but they were pretty time consuming so I switched to other stuff like the cookies and the tres leches cakes.” Eliara paused. “Becoming that popular so fast… It’s a bittersweet experience, I think. I received a lot of compliments on my products but, you know, you just don’t know how to influence other people.”
I wouldn’t say I understand where she’s coming from, but I do understand how she felt this. A bigger business means a lot more attention and with that, higher standards from everyone around you and obviously, more pressure. I can’t imagine what I would do if I saw the demand rise before I could even blink.
Onto my third inquiry, “Is there anything you learned from doing this? Are there any pros or cons?
“That’s a good question,” she said, “um, I learned a lot. When I first started, I wanted to do deposits but as I kept going, I realized it would be really hard to keep track of everything. What I did learn was how to, like, distribute my desserts in a more, um, efficient way. In a faster way, basically, because before, I don’t know what I was thinking.” She chuckled briefly. “I learned a lot more about how to be direct with money because, you know, people were always asking me if I had extra, if they could pay back later, stuff like that was really hard to keep track of. I really just had to be kind of stern about it, at the end of the day.”
“Pros, I’d say it’s just the huge amount of support I get. It’s really what pushes me to keep going. Cons would be just the regular stuff, I think. Getting sales because I don’t bake as often as I did junior year–and I was crazy junior year when I first did all of this and, well, you know, dealing with some unpleasant customers.” It was here that I asked how she was able to supply herself with everything throughout all of this.
“My mom funds a lot of the ingredients, yeah. I’m really grateful for it. And my boyfriend helps me a lot with all the baking. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have a business. In the beginning I was pretty messy with it, like, I would just bake all the time, I mean, it was literally everyday after school. And people would just ask for extras and that was really hard to account for sometimes. It did keep me busy though, I will say that. And when Andrew went to another school it was pretty good too, my sales would reach there as well.”
Now, I ask my final questions to Eliara. “Would you recommend having a student business? Any advice?”
“Absolutely,” she said instantly, with full certainty. “To be in control of your own and your business, having your own money–it’s great. As for advice, I’d say to just learn as you go. I learned a lot more now than I did when I first started. And it’s definitely more manageable now that I have time as an early-release senior. Also, because it’s a business and you’re a student and all that, be careful. A lot of people will try to take advantage of you. Oh, and if you’re doing like food, the same flavors are going to get boring fast. Change it up every once in a while.”
“Stay strong. Sometimes, I’d stay up till 3am just baking. And I’d be really tired and really frustrated and really gross because it’s late and I have all this mess around me. And on me. And it still happens to me to this day. It doesn’t stop me though. So, seriously, my biggest advice is to stay strong.”
Eliara gives some great pieces of advice there. It does, as you’ve probably noticed, take an abundance of determination to keep going with a business because sometimes, the going gets tough. That does answer my questions at the beginning of this article, actually. I think we can all appreciate her for her efforts and I am so grateful I was able to do this interview with her. She’s an amazing person and of course, a great baker. Go show her some support when she sells!
